Yangon, 14 January 2020: Myanmar recorded a 15% increase in tourism performance in 2019, receiving 1,323,994 tourists through Yangon Airport, the country’s main gateway.
Officials released annual tourist figures for the Yangon air portal, which excludes arrivals by land and through the country’s two other international airports in Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw.
Once land arrivals at all border checkpoints are counted, the annual result for 2019 could reach 4 million. But that is a far cry from the 7.5 million forecast for 2020 outlined in the country’s 2013-2020 tourism master plan funded by the Asian Development Bank.
However, for the country’s tourism industry, airline arrivals at Yangon Airport are considered an accurate measure of the success of global tourism promotions.
In 2019, Asia became the main supply region, with a cumulative number of arrivals of 1,060,396, an increase of 20%. In comparison, only 142,443 people came from Western Europe in 2018, a growth rate of zero.
China drove growth in the Asian market, delivering 344,268 passengers, a 75% increase and overtaking Thailand as the largest supply market. Thailand is now the second largest market, receiving 229,852 tourists for the year, an increase of 2%.
Japan remained the third largest market in terms of arrivals at Yangon Airport with 114,823 visits, a 27% increase. South Korea was fourth with 70,194 arrivals, up 4 percent, while the US was fifth with 56,683 arrivals, up 2 percent. It is the only non-Asian market in the top 10.
Other strong performers were: Singapore 52,461 (-4%); Vietnam 50,203 (3%); India 42,548 (4%); Malaysia 40,891 (10%); Taiwan 36,874 (-1%).
Myanmar, by contrast, is losing the appeal of some traditionally important European markets known for its high-yielding clients. The UK market was down 7% to 28,072, France was down 2% to 30,394 and Switzerland was down 10% to 6,570.
However, the good news in Europe was concentrated in Germany, which saw a 21,691 increase in visits, 20% in Spain, 11,301 in Spain and 16,550 in Italy, up 14%.
Australia, generally considered a safe bet for Myanmar’s tourism trade, saw a drop of 8% to 22,135 for the year.
